Upside Down
by Mew Pearl
Summary: Misty has been creeped out by Ash lately. What she doesn't know is that the reason for all his staring and stalker-like behavior is simple: he likes her! Reading&Reviewing is loved!


Misty hadn't taken a single bite of the sandwich Brock had given to her ten minutes earlier.

She swallowed, trying desperately to moisten her dry throat. It didn't help. She poked at the white bread of her sandwich and her finger left an imprint. She opened her sandwich and looked at the gooey cheese and glistening lettuce. This would usually be appealing, but today...

She couldn't take it and glanced up. Ash Ketchum was still staring at her. His dark brown eyes were fixed on her face, and his mouth was curved up into a slight grin. Misty shuddered. What was his problem?

"Misty, you haven't eaten your food," Brock said, pointing at her sandwich. He dusted his hands off on his green pants; he had been giving Pokeblocks to the trio's Pokemon.

Misty stretched out her long pale legs and wiggled her feet. "I'm just...not very hungry." She could feel Ash's eyes boring into her face. She felt like she would need to take a long hot shower to get rid of the marks his gaze had left on her.

"Not hungry?" Brock ran a hand though his spiky brunette hair. "But we haven't eaten anything all day. Not since breakfast, at least," he added.

Misty snuck a peek at Ash. Maybe he had stopped—

No, he was still staring. Misty glared at him. Over the last few days, he had been looking at her constantly. At first she thought it was because she had a pimple or something, which she didn't. Then she thought he was doing it as a joke. That was what she still thought, although he was seriously freaking her out now.

"I'm going for a walk," Misty blurted. She stood up and left the sandwich behind on the log she had been sitting on.

"But your sandwich—"

"I don't give a damn about the sandwich!" Misty growled as she stalked past Brock. She felt a twinge of guilt at being so rude, but she couldn't take Ash's eyes on her for an instant longer. She walked past Ash, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

The second she reached the path leading into the woods, she ran. Her red hair was loose and it flew behind her as she darted down the trail. With each step, she felt better. She was getting further away from the source of all her problems and it felt great.

But Misty should have known that you can't run from your problems; eventually they catch up with you...

Ash watched Misty speed walk past him and his heart jumped. Her skin practically glowed in the afternoon sunlight, and her red hair sparkled and crackled like the flames of their campfire. He willed her to look at him; he wanted to see those gorgeous aquamarine jewels that were her eyes. But it was as if she sensed him thinking this and deliberately avoided his gaze.

He sighed and stroked Pikachu, who was curled up in his lap. "What should I do, Pikachu?" he whispered. Brock was playing with his Vulpix and didn't hear him.

"Pika?" Pikachu squeaked sleepily, rubbing its face with a yellow paw.

"Never mind. Go back to sleep," Ash murmured, rubbing the electric mouse Pokemon between the ears.

Ash stared into the distance; Misty was just a tiny speck. But still, she was beautiful. He had come to realize that over the past few days. Before he had thought of her as a friend; sure she was a girl, but she was a girl who was tough and battled hard with her water Pokemon. He never thought of her as more than that.

But exactly three days ago that had all changed. He had awoken from sleep to see Misty swimming in the lake by their campground. The sky was filled with stars which were reflected back into the water. When Misty's head broke the surface, she looked like a mermaid princess, surrounded by glowing dots. Ash's heart had begun pounding with new feelings that moment and had never stopped since.

"...Ash? Ash!"

Ash snapped out of his trance and saw Brock standing over him. "Yeah?"

Brock took a seat beside him on the grassy ground. "You looked miles away. What were you thinking about?"

Ash's face flamed with sudden heat and he muttered, "N-Nothing."

He was too embarrassed to let Brock know how he felt about Misty. Brock was labelled as the girl crazy one in their group; Ash was supposed to be the one obsessed with being a Pokemon Master. But lately his thoughts had been more filled with girls than beating the Pokemon League.

"You're thinking about a girl, aren't you?" Brock laughed at the shock on Ash's face. "You can't fool me, buddy. I wear that look all the time, so I would know."

Ash was about to protest, but released a heavy breath instead. "Okay, I'll admit it." He pulled his hat down to cover his eyes. It felt pretty good to tell someone the truth.

"So which girl is it?" Brock rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I remember the face of every girl we've ever met, you know!"

Ash slowly turned to stare at Brock. "That's kind of creepy."

"Why?" Brock asked, oblivious.

"Never mind." Ash hugged his knees to his chest, squishing Pikachu. Pikachu let out an annoyed sound and bounced away from Ash to sleep under a tree. "I can't believe you don't know who it is."

"Is it supposed to be obvious?"

Ash sighed. Brock was clueless. "Yeah. Just think of the most obvious person I could like."

Brock was silent for a second, biting his lip. He turned to Ash with a sudden flash of inspiration in his narrow eyes.

"It's that girl we met on April 22nd. The one with the injured Pidgey!" Brock declared. "She was wearing a purple skirt and white top—"

"It's Misty, you idiot," Ash interrupted. He immediately felt his cheeks heat up again and he buried his face in his knees.

There was silence for a long moment.

Brock finally spoke up. "It's..._our _Misty?" His face wore a puzzled expression, as if there were millions of girls named Misty running around Kanto.

Ash grunted an affirmative response. Brock stared at him, shaking his head from side to side as if to make water get out of his ears.

"But that can't be."

Ash pulled his face away from his knees and looked questioningly at Brock. "Why not?"

"Because, I—"Brock pulled himself to his feet and gazed at the clear blue sky. "Because I like Misty too!"

Ash felt a trickle of sweat slide down his back and his hands lost all feeling. "W-what?" he stuttered, praying he had heard incorrectly. "Y-you like her too?"

Brock burst out laughing and doubled over. Ash blinked as he watched tears stream down Brock's face. Brock rubbed the droplets of moisture away from his eyes, shoulders still trembling with laughter.

"God, Ash," he panted, "Don't ever say stuff like that around me okay? You could kill me, I swear." He snorted. "Liking _Misty_? That's a good one. She's like our sister!"

Ash let out a forced chuckle. His heart thudded crazily as he realized that Brock didn't like Misty; he was just kidding about that. But Brock also believed that Ash was joking about his feelings for Misty, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

"Yeah, it's pretty dumb," Ask laughed weakly. "Like I would ever feel—"

"What so funny?" demanded a feminine voice.

Ash immediately stopped his false laughter and gawked at Misty. Her creamy cheeks were flushed pink and sweat clung to her red strands of hair. She looked even prettier after exercise. She seemed to wince when her eyes met his and she immediately looked at Brock.

"Are you okay? You're not having a heart attack, are you?" she asked, nudging Brock with the tip of her white sneaker.

"No." Brock grinned widely at her. "Good to see you...M-Misty." He sputtered the last word through his new spasm of guffaws.

Misty shoved his shoulder. "You're an idiot."

"Why are you being mean to me? Ash started all this," Brock whined as Misty pinched him. "You should ask him to tell you what he told me. It's hilarious."

Misty shot daggers at Ash, but he didn't feel afraid at all. She was just so pretty, and smart, and perfect in every way. How could he ever get her to like him? All he could do was stare at her like a fool!

"Ugh!" Misty scowled at him. "You're so weird, Ash. Like I would ever want to know what you told our insane friend Brock." She turned her back on the boys and marched away.

Ash stared after her longingly.

Misty...


End file.
